


live for today

by togetherwecouldbealright



Category: One Direction (Band)
Genre: Canon Compliant, Fluff, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-07-05
Updated: 2015-07-05
Packaged: 2018-04-07 17:29:42
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,090
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4271823
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/togetherwecouldbealright/pseuds/togetherwecouldbealright
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>
  <i>“’S pretty,” he murmurs to Louis, setting his phone down. “Like you.”</i>
</p><p>
  <i>When Louis laughs, Harry feels his chest shaking underneath him and it makes him want to explode into a million colors himself. </i>
</p><p>
  <i>“Thanks, Haz,” Louis says, lips pressed against the crown of Harry’s head. “You’re lovely.” </i>
</p><p>Harry and Louis watch the fireworks.</p>
            </blockquote>





	live for today

**Author's Note:**

  * For [tomorrows](https://archiveofourown.org/users/tomorrows/gifts).



> a/n:
> 
> Because apparently I owe Zahra. 
> 
> Thank you to my beta Holly always. The title is from the song Fireworks by Hudson Moore. I hope everyone enjoys this little fluff ficlet!
> 
> PS: I have a new fic coming soon which you should definitely be on the lookout for. Keep your eyes open.

The sun beats down on Harry’s bare back and he feels almost as though he’s soaking in sunlight. There are small droplets of water trailing down his skin, from his dip in the pool earlier in the afternoon.

It’s the last dip he can take for a while since he plans to go to Shamrock in an hour. The promise of a new tattoo makes his fingers tingle with excited anticipation.

Harry flips to the next page of his book _Selected Poems_. Lately he’s grown an affinity for poetry. It reminds him of songs—songs that will never be sung.

He’s in the middle of reading when there’s a shadow over him, blocking the sunlight. Harry makes a low noise of protest that turns into a contented sigh when he feels lips against the back of his shoulder, cool against his overheated skin.

“Read anything good, love?” Louis asks quietly, straddling Harry’s hips and running his fingers down the planes of his back gently.

“It’s all good,” Harry murmurs, eyes fluttering shut as Louis presses another kiss to the opposite shoulder. “Inspiring.”

“Yeah?” Louis replies, lips moving against his skin. “Enough to write a song with me?”

Harry smiles even though he knows Louis can’t see it. “I always want to write songs with you.”

He taps Louis’ leg lightly and the older man slowly moves off of him. Harry turns over and sits up, throwing his legs over the side of his tanning chair.

Almost immediately Louis fits himself in the space between Harry’s legs and Harry can’t help that his smile widens, hands immediately reaching for Louis’ waist, wanting him _closer closer closer_ always.

“Missed you,” he mumbles, thumbing over a lovebite he left on Louis’ hips just a few hours ago.

Louis laughs with his head thrown back and there are crinkles in the corner of his eyes that set something in Harry's heart alight. Harry watches him, momentarily losing his train of thought because right underneath the tips of Harry’s fingers is the human equivalent of a masterpiece.

“I saw you just three hours ago,” Louis teases, watching Harry with a wolfish smile and eyes that glitter in the sunlight. Harry watches as Louis’ teasing expression softens into something sweeter. “I missed you too.”

Harry looks up at Louis through his eyelashes and smiles coquettishly. “Kiss me, please.”

Louis huffs another laugh, a quieter sound. “Aren’t you polite?” he quips fondly before he leans down just as Harry pulls him closer. It seems he shouldn’t have done that because Louis loses his footing and falls forward onto Harry.

They both go flailing as the tanning chair collapses under their weight and they hit the wooden deck with a soft thud.

Harry is stunned for a moment but when he sees the surprised look on Louis’ face, he bursts into giggles and soon after, Louis joins in on the laughter, resting his forehead on Harry’s bare chest as his shoulders shake with mirth.

When Louis finally looks up, his eyes are incredibly bright. “You’re such a hazard,” he informs but the look on his face negates every single word that leaves his mouth.

Harry just grins because it’s the perfect time for a joke. “That’s me. It’s why they call me Hazza, you know. It’s a nickname for my full name—Hazard Styles.”

“I’m in love with an idiot,” Louis replies exasperatedly, shaking his head but then he crawls forward until they’re face to face. Harry shivers when Louis runs his thumb along his jaw, a gentle touch. Louis is always gentle with him. “Still want that kiss?”

Harry nods slowly, not wanting to lose the feeling of Louis’ touch. “Wish you could kiss me forever,” he whispers as though it’s a secret.

Louis smiles like it’s his favorite secret.

When Louis leans forward and their lips meet, Harry swears fireworks go off. Belatedly, he realizes that fireworks _are_ actually going off somewhere in the neighborhood.

He almost forgot that it was July 4th. The American Independence Day. And they’re in America right now—Los Angeles to be specific.

What’s even better is that they’re together and it’s public information. Tonight they'll both be attending a party in Malibu after they watch fireworks together and that'll be public too. There used to be a time when none of this was allowed but things are changing.

 _The future is now_ , Harry thinks as he stares into cerulean sea of Louis’ eyes.

He thinks Louis is thinking the same thing because his eyes flutter shut and he kisses Harry more insistently, pressing closer. Their mouths move together in a way that’s incredibly familiar, a practiced motion.

While Harry is content to lie there, even with a piece of the broken tanning chair pressing into his back, and kiss Louis for an indefinite amount of time, they do have a tattoo appointment they have to get to.

“Lou,” he mumbles against the older man’s lips. “Tattoos.”

Louis’ thumb stills where it was pressing into a bruise on Harry’s arm and he leans back, blinking as though he’s coming out of a daydream. “I forgot,” he says, tilting his head considering. “You distracted me. Your mouth keeps stealing from me.”

Harry giggles quietly. “My mouth is stealing from you?”

Louis nods seriously, eyebrows knitting together. “They’re stealing from me. They’re stealing my thoughts, my kisses, my love. I want to sit here all day and just watch you speak. I have this irresistible urge to always kiss you, to never stop. Your mouth does crazy things to me.”

Licking his lips, Harry adjusts himself so he has better leverage to lean up. “One day I’d like to meet your mouth,” he whispers, just a breath apart from Louis.

They’re both quiet for a moment, aside from their breathing and the steady beating of their hearts. Harry thinks Louis is going to lean in when another firework goes off in the distance.

It seems to remind Louis that they actually will be late if they don’t get going soon and Harry watches as Louis smiles reluctantly and gets to his feet. He offers a hand for Harry to take and he does, carefully standing up.

“Tonight, we’ll write songs together,” Louis promises him, intertwining their fingers gently. “About the time we kissed and fireworks went off and we broke a chair because we’re reckless and care about nothing except the taste of each other’s mouths.”

“You speak in lyrics,” Harry tells him, feeling giddy and terribly in love.

Louis squeezes his hand and says, “You make it terribly easy.”

—

There’s something like adrenaline pumping through Harry’s blood as he walks through a crowd, hand in hand with Louis. Something about hiding in plain sight has always given Harry a rush, especially when he’s with Louis.

A small part of him—a part he’d never admit to anyone aside from Louis—used to hope that they would get caught when they went out and hid like this. That part isn’t really prominent now—not when he knows the finish line is so close. He can see it just beyond the horizon.

Soon, they won’t need to hide.

For now, Harry is content to be allowed out like this, even if they’re surrounded by middle aged adults, who are watching the sky with bored expressions on their faces.

Louis told him that the people their age usually watched from across the harbor, waiting for the fireworks on the other side. The odds of anyone on this side recognizing them are slim to none and even then, the odds are that none of them will care enough to tell anyone else.

When Louis brings them to a halt, Harry easily hooks his chin over Louis’ shoulder and presses a soft kiss to his cheek. He knows his hair is probably tickling Louis’ neck but Louis doesn’t complain, just smiles.

“Is here a good spot to sit?” Louis asks him, gesturing to patch of grass at their feet. There's no one in hearing distance and the area is almost completely isolated except for an elderly couple about ten meters away.

In the hand that's not holding Louis', Harry is carrying a basket with a picnic cloth inside. Louis teased him about taking it but now, looking down at the dirt on their shoes, Harry knows it was a good idea.

Louis’ shoes are completely ruined and Harry decides not to mention that he specifically _told_ Louis not to wear white converse.

“Yeah, it’s perfect,” he decides and Louis nods, kicking a few twigs out of the way.

There’s a plastic wrap on Harry’s right arm, covering the area just above the inside of his wrist. There’s a nautical star tattoo there. Similarly on Louis’ left arm, in the exact same position, there’s a ship wheel right above his card suits tattoo.

The tattoos are still fresh and Harry knows they’re not supposed to touch but he wants to. He can’t help but marvel at the fact that Louis has _another_ tattoo for him—this being the same person who used to say he never wanted a tattoo. It never fails to amaze Harry how much Louis does for him, how much he loves him.

Once they finish setting up, Harry finds himself nearly sitting in Louis’ lap, making himself as small as he can as he listens to the beat of Louis’ heart. It’s his favorite sound. The sky is in a million colors, slivers of orange, purple, pink, blue.

Harry snaps a picture of it, intending to Instagram it later in the night. Now that he can post in color, he has to hold himself back from posting a dozen posts per day.

“’S pretty,” he murmurs to Louis, setting his phone down. “Like you.”

When Louis laughs, Harry feels his chest shaking underneath him and it makes him want to explode into a million colors himself.

“Thanks, Haz,” Louis says, lips pressed against the crown of Harry’s head. “You’re lovely.”

Harry preens at the words and says nothing else, content to watch the sun set. _Escape from the city and follow the sun_.

The noise of the people that are meters upon meters away increases as the darker the sky grows, arousing excitement in Harry. It’s his first time watching the Independence Day fireworks in real life and not on a telly. Maybe he shouldn’t be this eager since they have fireworks at every single one of their concerts but this… this feels different.

This feels like a world where he and Louis are normal people, on a date, watching the fireworks explode in the sky. A world where Harry used to be afraid of fireworks and Louis convinced him to come out and see them with him anyways and Harry was all but helpless to oblige. A world where they’re just like anyone else, enjoying the night without any worries.

The part about Harry being afraid of fireworks is true though and in this world, they have matching tattoos that show their love to the world, so Harry decides he likes this world the best.

Maybe in another world their lives would be easier. However, in that world, his Louis wouldn’t exist. If there’s one thing that Harry knows in his heart, it’s that he would do everything—all the lies, all the pain, all the stunts—all over again if it meant that he’d be with his Louis.  

His Louis that’s carding his fingers through Harry’s hair, humming a song that Harry doesn’t recognize.

“Do you ever wish we were in a different world? Where things are easier?” Harry finds himself asking quietly, picking at one of the loose threads at the knee of Louis’ jeans.

“Never,” Louis says, not hesitating for even a second.

Harry smiles, feeling his heart swell in his chest. “Me either.”

It’s then that the fireworks start, lighting up the sky with a rainbows of color. They start off as small dots and then they expand into showers of light. It's entrapping.

The sudden booms startle Harry and he feels chills run down his spine but then Louis is there, holding his hand and singing softly in his ear. It’s the song he was humming before.

The song is about fireworks and kisses and a love that’s unheard of. About cuddling underneath a sky full of explosions, hand holding in the dark and eyes brighter than lightning.

About a world where Louis loves Harry the same way that fireworks expand and they wouldn’t change a thing.

**Author's Note:**

> Come [say hi to me on tumblr](http://lourrynavy.tumblr.com) or [say hi to me on twitter](http://twitter.com/deepestIove) and tell me what you thought of this! Comments and kudos are always so very appreciated. Thank you for reading!


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